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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29764584">My Heart Beat For You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Splat_Dragon/pseuds/Splat_Dragon'>Splat_Dragon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(Basically his heart exploded), Angst, Exhaustion, Heart Attacks, Hurt No Comfort, Myocardial Rupture, Sleep Deprivation, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 13:47:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>815</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29764584</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Splat_Dragon/pseuds/Splat_Dragon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A <b>myocardial rupture</b> is a tear that occurs in the muscle layer of the heart wall. The tear can occur in the inner walls which divides the heart into separate chambers or on the outer wall which keeps the circulating blood within the heart. A myocardial rupture can also involve the tiny muscles that pull on the heart valves, the cords connected to these muscles and the heart valves, or even the flaps of the heart valves itself. The outlook for a myocardial rupture depends on where the tear occurs. Sometimes death is almost instant despite prompt medical attention. At other times medical treatment can prove to be life saving. However, the overall outlook for a myocardial rupture is poor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>My Heart Beat For You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leech_In_A_Peach/gifts">Leech_In_A_Peach</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Idea by: Leech_In_A_Peach</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>God, but Arthur was tired.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept. Probably, he thought, when his head had swam and bile had risen in his throat, his arm had hurt and then he’d collapsed off of River. How long he’d been out, he didn’t know; long enough that he’d woken to find himself nose to nose with a coyote, a bird having tugged loose a decent chunk of the shoulder of his shirt.</p><p> </p><p>And that had been… god, what, five days? a week? ago? Even Bill and Uncle were asking if he was alright, so he knew he had to look something awful.</p><p> </p><p>But there wasn’t enough time in the day to sleep. If he sat down someone was there tugging at his shirt, “Arthur, you’re being lazy! Come do this, come do that!” and if he laid down someone would throw up the flap of his tent, “Arthur! You’ve slept long enough, get out here and help us!” he’d fallen asleep in the saddle, one other time, and found himself dumped when he tilted; had dozed off waiting for a wagon and gotten a good tongue lashing, tried to camp out and every time been ambushed by wolves or cougars, O’Driscolls or Murfree Brood depending on where he tried.</p><p> </p><p>So sleep, it seemed, was something he’d just have to learn to live without.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He scrabbled in the ledger - internally cringed at what had become of his usually neat handwriting - his hands were shaking and the world danced before his eyes, it was a miracle he could even get the pencil on the actual <em> paper </em> - what he’d just put in the tithing box, probably more than was the camp’s share but it wasn’t like he had time to spend money, anyways, so why bother taking his share?</p><p> </p><p>Maybe… tent? Even just a few minutes would be better than nothing, and it was getting dark, maybe no one would notice him—</p><p> </p><p>“Arthur!”</p><p> </p><p>Fuck.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah Dutch?” and he must have been trying too hard not to slur and turned stern because Dutch’s grin hardened into a glare,</p><p> </p><p>“Got a problem son?”</p><p> </p><p>Arthur’s head throbbed as he shook it, “No Dutch, just,” he yawned, “Tired.” he rubbed his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” Dutch patted him on the shoulder before beginning to steer him to his tent, “You can sleep later! Javier heard about a wagon and you’re the <em> perfect </em>person to go for it!”</p><p> </p><p>Arthur rubbed his chest, “Dutch, I’m not sure…”</p><p> </p><p>“I am!” Dutch laughed, nudging him into his tent, and Arthur must have been truly feeling his temper because his face flushed and the vein in his neck bulged, hands clenching as he fought the urge to yell—</p><p> </p><p>—would have, if his heart wasn’t doing flips in his chest. Anxiety? Was he too tired to feel the worry his body felt about yelling at Dutch? He knew, though, that yelling wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he tried again,</p><p> </p><p>“Dutch, I’m <em> exhausted,” </em></p><p> </p><p>And, he realized, not feeling so hot, swallowing rapidly as bile threatened to rise in his throat, a cool chill breaking across his skin.</p><p> </p><p>Dutch scowled, reaching to unroll the map on his table. “We all are son, but we all have to <em> pull. our. weight. </em>You can sleep when you get back from robbing the wagon.”</p><p> </p><p>Somehow, Arthur doubted that. He’d heard that several times in the last… he didn’t know how long.</p><p> </p><p>He reached up, rubbing his chest before his face, trying to get his vision to focus and the sweat off his skin. Started to say something before realizing that, if he opened his mouth, he was going to be sick all over Dutch’s floor, and didn’t feel up to cleaning sick off wood.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m glad to see we’ve reached an agreement,” Dutch said when Arthur leaned against the table, and began to point out where the wagon was coming from and the best place to wait, pausing and waiting for Arthur’s input, frowning when he got none, Arthur staring pursed-lipped at the map, before going back, telling him how many guards there were supposed to be, that he didn’t want him to draw any attention, that he wasn’t to lead anyone back to camp.</p><p> </p><p>All the things Arthur already knew, although he could barely hear Dutch over the dull thudding in his ears. <em> Lub-dub-lub-thump-lub-dub-thump-dub-lub-thump. </em></p><p> </p><p>“Alright son?”</p><p> </p><p>His head snapped up, pupils blown wide, gulping bile and saliva, “Yeah, yeah Dutch.” another rub of the chest,</p><p> </p><p>“Well then, what are you waiting for?” Dutch snapped, “Get going!”</p><p> </p><p>Arthur forced himself to straighten, the world spinning, mouth filling with saliva as his… well, he couldn’t remember his last <em> meal </em> either, as whatever-his-last-meal-had-been threatened to make a reappearance, struggling not to reel as he made his way out of Dutch’s tent more by memory than anything else, the world little more than a blur of colors,</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Lub-dub-lub-thump-lub-dub-lub-dub-thu- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>A sharp pain, and Arthur was gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A <b>myocardial rupture</b> is a tear that occurs in the muscle layer of the heart wall. The tear can occur in the inner walls which divides the heart into separate chambers or on the outer wall which keeps the circulating blood within the heart. A myocardial rupture can also involve the tiny muscles that pull on the heart valves, the cords connected to these muscles and the heart valves, or even the flaps of the heart valves itself. The outlook for a myocardial rupture depends on where the tear occurs. Sometimes death is almost instant despite prompt medical attention. At other times medical treatment can prove to be life saving. However, the overall outlook for a myocardial rupture is poor.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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